Susanne hosts Living to Tell the Story and encourages others to share blessings of the week on Fridays. Here are a few of mine from the past few weeks.

We’ve been traveling for much of the past three weeks. We had many blessings during our time away so I’ll share a few of them here.

1. Conference We attended a conference in North Carolina for our mission organization. It truly was a blessing to reconnect with old friends and make new friends during the conference.

2. Beach After the conference was over we headed to the beach for a week. My husband grew up on the South Carolina coast and was longing for some time in the ocean. We had a week full of fun and interesting experiences, though the ocean is not my best friend right now. Want to know why? I shared my story on Facebook and will repost it on my blog in a day or two.

Boardwalk at Holden Beach

The mighty Atlantic

Holden Beach, NC

3. Family How wonderful to spend time with family and old friends! My husband and his three siblings were together for a few hours one evening and three of them spent time together later in the week. Nieces, nephews, and some of their children made time to see us and long-time friends made a point of touching base with us throughout our stay.

Three of four siblings

4. Southern food There’s just something about southern food that is special. This northerner picked up a few favorites years ago during my fifteen-year sojourn in South Carolina so it was fun to return and taste the cuisine again. Sweet tea, shrimp and grits, scallops and crab, various styles of barbecue, fresh, juicy peaches, and even black raspberry jam (a favorite from my growing-up days in Ohio) plus some interesting new gluten free items were all culinary highlights of our trip.

5. Garden Leaving for the States a few days after Victoria Day meant I had to scurry to get my garden in before our trip. Our daughters kept an eye on things for me and I returned to thriving herbs and kale with the promise of peas, carrots, beans and squash later this summer. Oh, and the flowers my husband planted are doing well too.

Cheerful pansies

Lovely lavender

Fresh kale

Here are a couple more pictures from our trip. If you use any of my photos, please credit Deborah Talbert or purplegrandma.com. Thanks!

Back by popular demand here are further quotes from my four-year-old granddaughter. My son and his wife live and teach in Shanghai, China. Chloe was four in July and has some imaginative musings on life. Many of her observations involve her younger brother Paul, also called DiDi, which is Chinese for little brother. Our son Dave originally wrote down these quotes and has once again given me permission to share them. Enjoy!

I’m Going to Marry….

11-30-12

I’m playing a Batman game, creeping through the darkness to take down baddies. Chloe’s watching over my shoulder.

Chloe: We need to get a girl for him.

Me: Who?

Chloe: We need to get a girl for Batman, so he can get married.

Me: Oh, really? I think there are some girls who want to marry him, but he’s busy.

The Muffin

1-10-13

Chloe’s eating a blueberry muffin while I do correspondence.

Chloe: [holding up a blueberry] This one is brave.

Me: The which what now?

Chloe: [holding up a morsel of muffin] And this one is the bad guy. [she hurls it back into the bowl containing the brave blueberry and the rest of the muffin] They’re fighting. [makes fighting noises]

Me: Your muffin components are fighting each other?

Chloe: [snatches both up and stuffs them in her mouth] Uh-oh … someone ate the fighters. Too bad.

DiDi Is a …….

1-26-13

Chloe and DiDi are eating macaroni and cheese for lunch. Chloe climbs down from her chair and comes over to me, looking serious.

Chloe: I want to talk to you, Daddy.

Me: OK. What do you want to talk about?

Chloe: DiDi. DiDi is a filthy pig.

Potty Training

2-12-13

We’re potty training DiDi right now. This can make for some tense moments, as it did yesterday. I’m in my room working.

Chloe [calling from her room]: Look, Daddy! POO!

Me [dashing in]: What? Where’s the poo?!

Chloe [pointing to book]: Right here! He’s giving some honey to Piglet!

Phew! Just a false alarm … THIS time …

Dinosaurs

2-22-13

Yesterday a package arrived from Grandma and Grandpa bearing, among other things, a couple of highly detailed dinosaur action figures. Last night, as we’re getting ready for bed, I come into the room to find Chloe kneeling on the rug, staring intently at the two dinosaurs, which she’s placed side-by-side in front of her. She’s not doing anything — just staring at them.

Me: What are you doing, baby?

Chloe [very quietly]: I’m watching this dinosaur to see if it’s real or just a toy. I’m watching him to see if he winks at me or not. If he winks at me, he’s a real dinosaur. And I will give him some dinner.

Facts about Bison I Bet You Didn’t Know

3-16-13

Every morning we review the Apostle’s Creed and learn about an animal. Today’s animal was the bison (Aunt Annie suggested that maybe we were skewing a little too heavy on the carnivores, so we’re branching out). When Des came back from her prayer time, I decided we should review.

Me: What animal did we learn about, Chloe?

Chloe: Bison!

Me: Can you tell Mommy something about bison?

Chloe: They’re … they’re very small [indicating with her fingers a bison about the size of a penny].